Apple Music and Spotify are set to face new competition from Chinese company, ByteDance – owner of TikTok, an app for sharing short video clips.
According to a report today, ByteDance aims to agree global deals with music labels, and to undercut existing streaming music services …
The Financial Times reports that the US is one of the company’s target markets.
ByteDance is in talks with the world’s largest record companies — Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music — for global licensing deals to include their songs on its new music subscription service, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Beijing-based technology company aims to launch as soon as next month, initially in emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and Brazil, before a future opening in the US, according to people briefed on the plans.
TikTok has around a billion users globally, with around 80M app downloads in the US, giving it a large user-base to whom it can market the new streaming music service.
ByteDance is reportedly aiming to capitalize on its social media background by including fun sharing options within the new app.
In addition to on-demand music, the planned ByteDance streaming app would include a library of short video clips that listeners could search through and synch to songs as they listen, according to music executives who received demos of the service. Users could send these clips to their friends, as the app aims to encourage sharing and virality, and is designed for mobile phones with vertical-sized videos.
Pricing is not yet known, but the FT says that it is expected to cost less than the $9.99 charged by Apple and Spotify for a standard individual account.
Apple is, however, reportedly planning to offer bundles of Apple Music, News+ and TV+ subscriptions which may help it remain ahead of the competition. Currently, subscriptions to all three services cost $24.97, which includes Family Sharing for both News+ and TV+.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments